PSA Constituency Development (CoDe)

Clemson Public Service Activities (PSA) is part of a national network of 50 major land-grant universities—one in each state—that work in concert with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Clemson PSA has state and federal mandates to conduct research, extension and regulatory programs that support economic growth in South Carolina’s largest industry – agriculture and forestry, or agribusiness – which contributes $41.7 billion and 200,000 jobs to the state economy. Other state agencies depend on PSA for knowledge development and dissemination, including the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Forestry Commission, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

For FY 2015-16 we are requesting increased state investments in Clemson research, extension and regulatory programs needed for South Carolina producers to be competitive in today's agribusiness industry.

Throughout the fall of 2013 and early winter of 2014, Clemson Public Service and Agriculture (PSA) staff assembled statewide focus groups made up of key PSA stakeholders. The purpose of these focus group sessions was two-fold: 1) to inform agricultural leaders and constituents of the 2014 Clemson PSA budget request and 2) to solicit input on research and outreach opportunities linked to PSA programs.

A total of (312) PSA grass root constituents attended these listening sessions across the state of South Carolina. Following brief presentations on the budget request and proposed investments by Clemson University and the State of South Carolina, a series of questions were posed to each focus group. We have consolidated our stakeholder input into one comprehensive report. The report outlines responses to each of the questions asked of our focus groups and is categorized by county and region. We encourage you to review this full report. If you were at one of these sessions, we hope you witnessed the energy that exists across the state to help PSA rebuild and to spread Clemson PSA’s message of our positive economic impact on South Carolina’s economy.